Dear Rosetta Stone, I hate you

There are very few things in this world I hate but Rosetta Stone? You are quickly achieving the top of the list.

Last year, on May 26th, I ordered a *Lifetime Family Pack Italian Online Program* from you. I received 5 codes to go with this subscription. 2 of them were quickly activated by my daughters. Just 2 weeks ago, I attempted to use a 3rd code so that I could enjoy learning Italian, too. Oddly, *the codes had expired*. Maybe I missed it in the fine print, the part where it must have told me that even though I was paying for a *Lifetime Family Pack Italian Online Program*, the codes would expire (in under a year) and that I would have to email, message, make telephone calls and open 1,001 doors in an effort to claim what I have already paid for…and then? I’d be given only 12 months access.

This customer service hellhole is ridiculous. Your expiring customer codes are ridiculous. The fact that your CS reps refuse to provide me the same product that *I have already paid for* is worse than ridiculous.

It doesn’t seem too much to ask that I have access to the product that I paid for, does it? Not to any normal person or any ethical business, it doesn’t.

I’m activating the codes for the 1 year subscriptions, not because I think that what you have provided me is adequate, but because its the *only* thing you’ve provided, besides unprofessional customer service and rude emails.

I will *never* recommend your product, based on this fiasco, which would have been incredibly easily fixed by simply providing new, lifetime access, customer codes for the 3 not-yet-activated accounts I had left, but no, I’ve spent a minimum of 15 hours futzing around with this over the past 2 weeks to no avail. Typically I bill at $50 per hour. I’ve now spent over $1,000 on your product with very little result.

My review on Rosetta Stone: The product was only provided for a few months after purchase, rather than the ‘lifetime’ promised; the customer service people made ineffective efforts and after weeks of trying, finally provided me with a replacement product that is good for 12 months, rather than the ‘lifetime’ I paid for; the turn-around time was extremely slow for online contact, email contact and the telephone contact was ineffectual; the emails were rude; no clue about the product as I’ve only just gotten access to it today.